"What'd you want me to do with her?" said the brigand holding a struggling Wilma Deering. He was a large man dressed in rough dirty clothing.
"Nothing. Don't worry about her, she ain't going nowhere" his companion said with a chuckle as he looked over to where a small sub-space craft was sitting. It wasn't much more than a smoking hulk. "Don't even waste ammo on her" He was smaller than the first man but obviously the boss. He picked up the bag at his feet and jiggled it. The sound of coins inside made him smile broadly. "Nice haul today eh. Come on let's get out of here" he added as he moved over to the 2-person open vehicle waiting in front of the wreck of Wilma's craft and mounted the front seat. The larger man roughly shoved Wilma to the ground as he strode to the vehicle as his companion started the engine and hopped on the rear seat. The two men were soon roaring off and out of view. Not that Wilma could see them. Unfortunately, she had struck her head on rocks when she had been thrown to the ground and was unconscious.
"Wilma Deering never misses a check in unless something is wrong" Buck told the communicator on his ship.
"Well Captain, she had reported in at the end of the mission She said that she had located the spot that the meeting was to take place and said she was going to have one last look around before she returned to base. Major Dalton just figures it took her a bit longer than she thought" came the reply.
"Not likely, send Deering's last co-ordinates to my ship, I'm going to check on her" Buck said. "Out."
Buck sent his ship in a wide rolling turn towards Col Deering last position. As he flew over the rugged landscape below he switched on his sensors. Soon he reached the location indicated and he dropped below cloud level to get a good look around. "Pretty good place for a black-market meeting" he said. Below him were a series of rock mounds and craters, and Col Deering's last transmission was from inside on of the larger craters. As he flew over the area he could see the remains of the ship but couldn't see any terrains. His sensors told him that there was at most just one terrain there, so he decided to land check it out. But the crater wasn't large enough for Buck to land or take off again. "Sure wish I had a Harrier about now" was his thought.
Unfortunately, it took Buck awhile to find a place to put the ship on the ground but he found an area that was flat enough and had enough clearance. He hopped out of the ship and jogged over to the rim of the crater. The rim was piled up rocks and dirt about 25-30 feet high. He started right up the side, but that was not the best decision. Before he had gotten very far up the unstable rocks and dirt gave way underneath him and he slid back to where he began.
"Dummkopf" Buck said as he picked himself back up. "Okay let's do it right this time" . He took a deep breath and started to inspect the side of the crater, looking for a place that was stable and would hold his weight. Luckily, an area a little further along provided an easy scramble to the top of the rim. Once up at the top, Buck looked around and carefully noted landmarks and the position of his ship, as well as the wreck of Wilma's ship inside the crater. Then started down the inside wall of the crater. This side was about twice as deep, the slope wasn't as steep, and the boulders were bigger, but it was still a difficult climb. Once at the bottom he jogged across to the wreck of Wilma's small ship. A quick check told him she wasn't in there and he started a careful examination of the floor of the crater, starting along the wall.
"Wilma" he called at intervals. Soon he found her, laying half on her stomach and half on her side, her head up against a pile of rocks.
Buck gently turned Wilma over and checked her pulse. It was strong. He opened her eyelids and noted that her pupils were normal and reactive. But she wasn't conscience. The was a trickle of blood on her temple.
"Let's get you somewhere away from here" he said. He had noticed the vapors emanating from fissures in the rocks was foul smelling, like sulfur. He scooped her up and carried her over to the area where her ship was. At least it was flat and the sandy ground was a bit softer. While he was carrying her Wilma began to mumble. Buck couldn't make out what she was trying to say, talk, hawk, walk. "No you can't walk, hush." He told her as he laid her down.
Buck straightened up and looked around. No she couldn't walk he would have to carry her. But first he needed to find a way up the side of the crater that wasn't as steep. He spent quite a bit of time probing and testing the rocks until he found a path that he felt he could navigate. It was starting to get dark and colder as he made his way back to where Wilma was lying.
Buck settled down next to Wilma. She was squirming a bit, which Buck found odd, but as he wrapped his arms around her she seemed to settle down. When she started mumbling again he tried to catch the words. The only thing he was able to understand, he thought, was "my eyes."
"Don't worry Wilma, we'll get you to the medical unit soon." He told her. After a while he looked down at her, "not exactly how I imagined it" he said with a sigh.
At first light Buck was up and stretching. He had considered a couple of options like his own climb out of the crater to reach his ship and contacting base for help but decided that would take too long. He wanted to get Wilma out of there as soon as possible. On top of that he didn't want to leave Wilma there alone. There was no way of knowing if the black-market buyers and sellers would show back up. No the best option was carry her out.
Wilma was quiet, she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. The first thing he did was double-check the wreckage of Wilma's ship to make sure there was nothing of value. Next he leaned down and scooped Wilma up into his arms and started off towards the rim of the crater.
Initially the going wasn't bad and he made substantial progress. But soon it got steeper and he struggled some. After reaching about halfway up Buck stopped to rest and look around. There wasn't any path that would be easier so he said, "sorry about the indignity but you know ya gotta do what ya gotta do" With that he shifted Wilma to over his left shoulder. This way he could hang on to her legs with one hand and use the other to steady them both and help him in the climb. It took a while but they eventually reached the rim. Buck paused and looked around. His ship was still where he had left it.
Buck set Wilma down on a small ledge on the downside of the crater rim and took a brief rest . Once he had scrambled over, he picked her back up and carefully picked his way down to the ground. Wilma had mumbled a couple of times on the trek, but Buck realized that she wasn't talking to him. He did wonder why but had no idea.
Once Buck had Wilma safely in his ship he revved the engines and took off. His landing spot wasn't ideal as there wasn't a lot of clearance but he managed to get airborne only striking a little vegetation.
"Hope they have good insurance on this buggy." Once he had his ship headed in the right direction he switched on his communicator. "Rogers to Base." He said
"Captain Rogers we have been trying to reach you for some time. Major Dalton was quite concerned." Came the reply. Buck bit his tongue. He had a lot to say about the major but recognized that anything he had to say wouldn't be helpful at this point. Instead, he merely said "We are in bound and will contact again when we are ready to begin our final approach. Please make sure that medical staff are standing by. Rogers out"